1856-O Two and a Half Conditionally Rare MS62Tied With One Other at PCGS

1856-O $2 1/2 MS62 PCGS. CAC. Variety 2. The New Orleans
Mint, in its antebellum heyday, struck only 21,100 examples of the
1856-O quarter eagle, a denomination that was unloved and neglected
in favor of the half eagle and (after 1849) the double eagle
throughout much of its history. San Francisco, in only its third
year of operation, also struck 1856-S quarter eagles for the first
time since opening, and managed to best New Orleans by a margin of
more than 3 to 1. Whether these comparative mintages were an early
sign of the increasing decrepitude that would overtake the Southern
mint by the early 20th century, or merely an indication of the
continuation of the hard-money tradition of the Old West that began
a few years earlier with the Gold Rush of 1849, is not readily
known today. Nonetheless, 1856-O quarter eagles are quite elusive
in Mint State; the average certified survivor is about AU. PCGS has
certified precisely two pieces in MS62 including this piece, and
the other example we handled more than a decade ago in our
Exclusively Internet Auction #21043, lot 3407, where it realized
$10,000.
From the photo, we believe the present coin represents the second
MS62 PCGS example. The surfaces have an original, pleasing
orange-gold color with an extremely sharp strike. The date has the
Slanted 5 style typical of late-1850s coinage. There are no
mentionable marks on either side of this conservatively graded
piece.(Registry
values: P2) (NGC ID# 25JA, PCGS# 7780)